The Beyond the Street book launch at Deitch Projects in New York was by far one of the coolest events I’ve ever been to (which is saying a lot if you’re a daily reader and see all the cool stuff I go to) and over a month later, I am STILL writing about it! One of the many geniuses I shared my soul with, was artist Adam Wallacavage. He makes chandeliers that are beyond incredible. (See photo gallery here.) In addition to creating really awesome art, he is also an accomplished photographer and his 2006 book Monster Sized Monsters, is extremely cool. The book is a document of over 16 years of photos encompassing encounters with artists, musicians, daredevils and “all things weird.” Adam was anything but weird when I met him and I am grateful for the encounter! Thanks again, Adam!

At the launch party for the ultra-amazing book Beyond the Street, I met artist Dzine. Dzine’s work is so amazing and he’s done it all! From bike designs to sculpture to paintings, there is not a medium that Dzine has not mastered. Check out a gallery of his work here. It’s awesome! Thanks to Dzine for being so cool and for making such great art!

At the launch party for the amazing book Beyond The Street, I met the one and only Patti Astor. Patti Astor is a New York legend whose credits include starring in Charlie Ahearn’s film “Wild Style,” the first film about hip-hop music, a movie that is considered to be one of the greatest music films of all time. She co-founded the FUN Gallery in the 1980s, which showcased the work of at the time unknown artists such as Fab Five Freddy, Kenny Scharf, Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat! During my brief encounter with this legend, she was extremely nice, as you can see from the above photo. You can read an interesting interview with Patti Astor here. Thanks Patti!

At the book launch party for the ultimate Urban Art Bible, Beyond The Street, I met artist WK Interact. WK Interact was born in France, but he now resides in New York. His work is so great! He started out as a street artist and before long, galleries worldwide were snatching up his work. Most recently, he collaborated with Shepard Fairey in a graffiti face-off called “The East Vs. West Propaganda Project” which has shown in Tokyo and Paris. He was super cool when I met him and I thank him for the photo op and for creating amazing work!

Artist SABER had already been known as a legend in the world of graffiti but in 1997, he became an international superstar. He covered the sloping cement bank of the Los Angeles River, making it the largest piece of graffiti ever created! The piece is the size of a football field and he used 97 gallons of paint and completed the project over 35 nights! When I met SABER at the launch for the book Beyond the Street, which is an amazing book, by the way, he was super cool and posed for a photo with me. SABER just released a book of his own called SABER: MAD SOCIETY. Check out his stuff, it’s really awesome! Thanks SABER!